


Fireshatter

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Series: The Winged Jedi [24]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-02-16 18:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18696844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: There is no one left that the Emperor can trust to lead the armies. Darth Vader will have to do, but he can't be left alone.





	Fireshatter

"Reports indicate that Vader is part of the massing forces on Retali." Bly said. "The Emperor has accompanied him to the fortress, overseeing the new troops' deployment."

Aayla met her eyes across the room. "It's just like you said."

"Like she said?" Padmé asked. 

"The anti-air cannons are too strong for a frontal assault here." Rex pointed out, gesturing to the holomap. "We can't use Blitz tactics against Retali."

"We have to split their attention." She decided. "The Rebel forces will draw half the main host to the stations surrounding the planet, otherwise risk their long-range detection to go offline."

"What if they take that risk?" Aayla interjected. 

"Then we call the Rebels to us and assault the capital." She couldn't help her smirk. "But I know Vader won't do that. He'll want to keep the stations to ensure they have warning of more ships. The Emperor's presence presents a perfect opportunity for extortion - they need to protect him at all costs and therefore can't afford to lose monitoring equipment."

"But that leaves us open for detection." Padmé argued. 

"They already know we're coming. It's part of their plan." Her wings rustled. "They're betting on it, because Coruscant is undefended."

"So what do you suggest we do? Coruscant would be a better capture than Retali and the Emperor."

"Aayla's men and the 501st take the Imperial Senate and hold it hostage." She gestured to a new map. "Take the Emperor's Palace and the old Temple. Most of Coruscant will be indifferent to the events unless they are directly threatened, so just take what is necessary and avoid civilian contact. Rebels will harass the stations at the same time, and I will handle the insertion into Retali's main encampment. Once we have the Emperor, the Imperial Senate will draft a surrender. Their army is already mostly leaderless - what good are soldiers without commanders? I know this will work."

Padmé sighed heavily. "I appointed you back to High Jedi General for a reason. This is our plan, then. Lay out a written plan for the Rebel forces and my advisors will see it done."

"Thank you, Senator."

She nodded and saw herself out. Aayla, however, was frowning. 

"How are you so certain?" 

"Because I know Anakin, and I know what a dying army looks like in disrepair." Obi-Wan stood tall, imposing in the shallow room. "This isn't my first insurrection."

* * *

"What do you mean we won't be going with you?!"

Kenobi didn't even stall in her steps. "This phase of the fighting is beyond your skill level, Kanan. And even if it were not, your friends are not prepared for this."

"We were there during the Blitzkrieg - you can't honestly say this is going to be worse."

"It is." She got into a lift and he squeezed in alongside her. "The Blitz is a surprise assault tactic - the vode call it  _smash and grab_ \- but this is an invasion movement. The Emperor is a high-priority target, therefore will be immeasurably more fortified in his position."

"Then you need all the help you can get."

"I need _people_ I can trust not to die." She replied plainly. "Your team are not numbered among them. You're children, barely adults. This is a war, Kanan."

"Ahsoka was twelve when she was assigned to a general."

"Ahsoka was exceptional, and Temple-trained. She had two masters and a full host to watch her back. You weren't even a year into your training with your master before the Empire."

"Or do you just not want me there because you think Vader can be saved and I'll take my chance to kill him?"

Her gaze snapped to him and he immediately felt pinned, like an insect trapped in glass. Her eyes narrowed fractionally and her mouth was set in a firm line. "I will not hesitate to kill Anakin if the lives as so much as one member of my company comes under threat. He has made his choices. However, if the Force did not deal in second chances, you would not be here. I am saving your life by not allowing you on Retali. Hate me or not for this decision, it makes no odds, but you  _are staying here_."

She got off the elevator, Rex waiting there for her. The old Captain glanced between them, but didn't get a chance to speak before the doors closed and he was moving back down. 

"I'm going to Retali." He muttered bitterly. "Whether you like it or not."

* * *

Ezra was watching the clones load the  _Negotiator_ with the saddest eyes he could muster. 

"C'mon, kiddo. Don't be like that." Waxer pat his head. "Nothing's gonna happen to us."

"How will I know? I just have to wait until you get back." He pouted harder. 

"We have comms." Boil pointed out unhelpfully. "We'll just gve you a call when we win." 

"I can help in other ways. We've been your scouts this entire time! Why can't we continue to do that?"

Ringo snorted. "Kid, Kenobi's been favouring you this whole time. We wouldn't let you out on the field if your position wasn't a secure one. What do you think Rex was there for?"

Echo smacked Ringo across the back of the head. "Not for you to give the game away, you moron."

"Look, kid, the General cares about you." Boil cut back in with a glare. 

"General Kenobi wants to see you grow and become the Jedi you're meant to be." Waxer smiled sadly at him. "Throwing your life away in a war that started before you were born is . . . less than what you deserve. Sometimes, picking your battles is the most important thing you can do."

"And what about you guys? Made for war and hated by the galaxy you protect? What kind of hypocrisy is that?"

Hurt flashed across Waxer's eyes and he slowly moved back. His tone was soft, but distanced. "We didn't have anyone to save us. Take her gift for what it is."

Ezra immediately felt bad. "Waxer, I'm sorry, that's not what I-"

"It is what you meant." Boil cut back. "Take a lesson from the 212th's handbook - do what General Kenobi says. It's what's going to keep you alive."

* * *

She was on the bridge when they came out of hyperspace, the cool green sphere of Retali taking shape in front of them. The Rebel ships were already hard at work harassing the orbital stations, their defences already taking major hits. 

"Land us."

"But sir-"

"It can be done." Mirage shut down the civilian operator. 

"Gearshift," She turned to one of the men standing around her, "you're in charge while I'm out. Mirage will be your standing main bridge operator. Everyone else is with me."

"Understood, sir." He nodded smartly. Good luck."

"Everyone else, to the drop ships. We deploy mid-sequence." The clones snapped to her order. "I'm deploying solo from the bay, so only in-atmosphere can the doors open. Keep shields until then."

"Yessir." Gearshift paused for just a second. "Good luck, sir."

She smiled back softly. "Thank you. Happy landing."

"Always, sir."

She joined the assembled men in the lower drop bay, usually only used for tugboats and AT-TE deployment.

"Are you sure, General?" Helios asked her quietly as the men were loading. "They're immediately going to target you."

"That's what I'm planning on." She pat his shoulder. "It's going to be fine."

"Alright." He didn't seem convinced, but he pulled on his helmet anyway and got into the pilot's seat. 

It was only minutes, but it felt much longer until the  _Negotiator_ broke the atmosphere. 

"Sixty seconds." Came Gearshift's voice over the loudspeakers. The bay doors opened at thirty seconds and the pilots lifted off the ground. 

The deployment light above the door shifted from red to green and she threw herself out into the turbulence. She kept her wings closed until she was well away from the descending starcruiser, then snapped them open, catching the current and rocketing off toward the fortress. She left the gunships far, far behind her, meeting the oncoming fire long before her men did. 

But there were no anti-air guns sharp enough to catch her. There were no snipers skilled enough to keep up with with her. There were no missiles accurate enough to hit her. When she was in the air was when she was at her best - when she was the angel of death that they whispered about like a jinx. They couldn't get her, and they wouldn't. 

Her swirls and drops through the air were an impressive aerial dance, twisting and changing directions again every few seconds, never in one place long enough to hit and never doing one thing long enough to predict. She swooped on them, flying nearly as fast as their fighters, and sliced through their battlements with her claws and her lightsaber. There was nowhere for them to go, and no place they could get to fast enough. By the time the dropships caught up with her, she had already cleared the battlements, destroyed the guns and created a landing zone. They hadn't even had time to raise the alarm. That would mean at least two hours of downtime before they were even alerted to the force sweeping their base. This tactic was different than the Blitzkrieg - there were no tanks, no insertion teams, no splitting up. The pilots would drop off the groundmen, she would lead them into the base, and they would sweep it clean. Eventually, they would find the Emperor and Anakin and the real battle would begin. 

"General." Cody trotted up to her. 

"Commander." She nodded back. "Bring out your knives, men. Quiet as we can."

A soft chorus of  _Yessir_ answered her and they slung their rifles over their shoulders, pulling out their serrated blades. 

Most of them stayed behind her as they made their way deeper into the fortress, which was built long before space travel capabilities were established on Retali. The surveillance network had been compromised by Crys the moment they landed in the compound, and the disruption affected the whole facility. 

Blair pushed his way to the front, a comm unit from a dead Stormtrooper in hand. "General, the first patrols have missed their check-ins. Reinforcements inbound."

"We'll just have to outpace them." By outpace, she meant kill faster than the new patrols could find the bodies. That also meant less stealth, more speed.

"Poppers, sir?" Cody asked. 

"No, save those for the weapons depot. Electrofrags until we're caught. Then we can use detonators."

"Are you certain?"

"The facility is old, but stable. Handhold detonators won't bring down the roof."

"You heard her, Scatterbrains." Cody ordered. 

Scatterbrains gestured Eskos over and started handing out electrofrags to the brothers behind the General and frontlinemen. They'd roll them under the forward brothers and take the enemy out efficiently. 

"If we raise the alarm and I have no time to issue orders, move to phase six immediately." She ordered. "I should like to apprehend Vader and the Emperor, but that's not priority."

"Yessir." The men answered. Phase six was the emergency exit strategy - level the place. Hand detonators might not crumble the walls, but Scatterbrains had men loaded with rockets and mines that definitely would. 

"Grab what you can." She said. 

"And take no prisoners." The brothers answered. 

* * *

The journey through Retali Central Command was not a long one, and indeed, they outpaced the Stormtroopers, who were sending increasingly distressed calls over their comms. 

"I'm coming down." Anakin cut in over the chatter. 

She looked back at Blair, who she knew was more than a little alarmed. They didn't want to fight Anakin and she wasn't willing to lose any men to him either. 

"Phase three." She said. "You continue forward, lay the charges. I'll take Cody, Waxer and Boil with me to head off Vader. Longshot, you take point. Use Cody's closed frequency if you need me. Any orders from the Commander, assume them to be mine."

"Yessir." Longshot moved to the front. "Authorizations?"

"Keep me abreast of any threats you can't handle - Inquisitors, the Emperor, any non-soldier entities. You have full authority to call on phase six if you get overwhelmed. Call it to Cody if you do."

The brothers got tense. They knew what it meant. She was going to run a suicide mission. She would have the brothers evacuate, but she would stay behind to buy them time. 

"We're going to have to have a talk about your martyr complex, General." Longshot grabbed her forearm and pulled her in, holding her arm as he wrapped the other one around her shoulder. "See you on the other side."

"May the Force be with you." She returned, hugging him back. "All of you."

When they came to a split in the hallway, Longshot took the Company left and she went right, trailed by only three.

 


End file.
